“How long before Jose Mourinho gets the sack? What’s going on at United then?”

If you are a supporter of Manchester United, then you will no doubt have been asked one, maybe even both, of the questions in the opening paragraph by well-meaning friends that have noted the receding hairline caused by the stresses of being a Red Devil right now.

Trying to find the answer is by no means easy because, there is no simple answer. The brutal truth is that the club is an utter mess, despite what the money men may want you to believe in announcing record revenue of £590 million earlier this campaign.

Those crazy figures may be music to the ears of the Glazer family, the American owners of the world’s most famous football club. But the only music United fans want to hear right now is Queen’s ‘We are the Champions’ echoing inside Old Trafford once again.

To make matters all the more galling is that, United’s demise from the footballing powerhouse they were in the Sir Alex Ferguson era has coincided with not just the rise of their cross-city rivals in blue, but the renaissance of their most bitter rivals, Liverpool, as well. Although Liverpool, who were convincing 3-1 winners against their great rivals on Sunday, are still trophyless since 2012.

But what IS United’s problem? How have things gone so drastically wrong in such a short space of time? It is easy to point the finger and blame the manager, but he is only part of a much bigger problem which has seen United go from perennial Champions League participants to a club no longer guaranteed a seat at football’s top table.

A typically surly Jose Mourinho, ahead of the match between Burnley and Manchester United at Turf Moor on September 2, 2018 in Burnley, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images)

Mourinho MUST take some of the blame. He won’t, of course, as it is not in his nature. But there is no denying that his demeanour is that of a man not happy in his surroundings and the performances of his team are reflecting his dark mood and personality.

United have become dour, sketchy and boring. When Mourinho barged upon the Premier League scene professing he was the ‘Special One’ he was an enigma. Charismatic to the core. He would charm and win people over with his style and demeanour, but all that has gone and been replaced by a man that sulks more than an adolescent teenager. He was loved by his own people and despised by the rivals, which is how football is and always should be. But not anymore.

Mourinho is in a privileged position. He is managing one of the biggest names in global sport, yet he acts like a petulant child being dragged to the dentist. His persona is a bad reflection on United themselves, although the one alliance he does hold strong and cherish is that with the immediate United fanbase that have staunchly, perhaps wrongly, stood by their man.

He has often thanked and namechecked them for their support in interviews, while United fans sing how he has them playing the United way... But it is a false prophecy because they don’t at all. However, it is the one alliance he has because relationships with certain players (Paul Pogba the most obvious one, but theer are others as well) and his chief executive seem strained at best.

Manchester United's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward (R) listens as Manchester United's Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho following the pre-season friendly football match between Wigan Athletic and Manchester United at the DW stadium (Photo credit should read JON SUPER/AFP/Getty Images)

In Edward Woodward, he has a boss who does not trust him. Woodward refused to back him in the transfer market and publicly said as much just hours after the summer transfer window ended.

Yet despite that, Woodward had given him a five-year contract as recently as February, so why isn’t he backing his man? It is Woodward’s third man at that after the doomed appointments of David Moyes and Louis van Gaal.

Woodward himself is part of the problem. He is not a football man – he never has been - and must be accountable for United’s on-pitch failure as it is he that appointed the managers. However, the puppet on the end of the Glazers’ string is performing superbly, according to the American businessmen themselves, who are only bothered about the accounts, which consistently show financial growth and consistent profit. The ‘business’ is performing well, the football team are not.

Woodward is more than capable of brokering a mega-money sponsorship deal, but a player transfer? Since he succeeded David Gill, United have become a laughing stock in the transfer market, paying way over the odds for Marouane Fellaini because they missed a release-clause deadline, while agents for the likes of Sergio Ramos and Diego Godin have used United as a bargaining tool to get better deals for their clients at Real and Atletico Madrid respectively, whilst spinning United a line that their player could be tempted by the bucks of OT.

Manchester United's French midfielder Paul Pogba (L) shakes hands with Manchester United's Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho after his substitution during the UEFA Champions League group H football match between Young Boys and Manchester United at The Stade de Suisse in Bern on September 19, 2018. (Photo by Alain GROSCLAUDE / AFP) (Photo credit should read ALAIN GROSCLAUDE/AFP/Getty Images)

Woodward’s mantra is that United can compete with the best in the world when it comes to paying transfer fees, but he is yet to really deliver on that promise. Yes, Paul Pogba was signed for a then-world record fee of £90 million, four years after he walked out of Old Trafford for Juventus for nothing. But is that it?

Pogba is not a Mourinho player, which is why the two clash. Pogba is a maverick with a giant ego and plays without discipline. It begs the question whether he was a Mourinho signing at all because he is the polar opposite to the stereotype of a typical Mourinho player.

That said, the Portuguese has hardly been given short change in the market. He’s had a net spend of £302 million since taking over at Old Trafford. Players he has brought in have largely been failures, such as Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof and Alexis Sanchez.

Nemanja Matic and Romelu Lukaku often escape the managers’ wrath following a poor result but, in the case of Lukaku in particular, there is a huge question mark over his ability to perform against the bigger teams. Again, in a big game - this time against Liverpool - he was utterly dreadful. Matic regularly plays poorly, but is exempt from criticism, it seems.

People will say that this United squad should be faring better, but why? Antonio Valencia has been rubbish for years, yet the non-English speaking Ecuadorian is a regular starter (when fit) as he wears the captain’s armband.

That in itself is an issue. Is he really the best candidate for the role? It is a damning indictment of how far United have fallen that they no longer have players with the will and determination of captains of yore.

The Manchester United team watch during the penaly shoot out during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Manchester United and Derby County at Old Trafford on September 25, 2018 in Manchester, England. (Photo by John Peters/Man Utd via Getty Images)

But he is not alone. Smalling, Jones, Young, Herrera, Mata, Martial and even Rashford have all been poor for some time. Am I alone in growing tired of their all-too-regular tweets apologising for the fans and how they will put things right next time? It can’t all be down to the manager, players must also take responsibility.

This squad is one of the worst I have ever seen at United, if not, the worst. They are over-paid, overrated, under-performing, egotistical prima donnas that are not fit to wear the shirt, with the odd exception. But then, they are managed by a manager that is just not a United man. And United are being run by a glorified banker that is not a Red either.

So to answer those questions, Mourinho could go at any time. He’s lost some of the dressing room and has a boss who places no faith in him, but won’t sack him to save his own face (unless he is prepared to use some of that £590 million garnered to pay off Jose’s contract).

United and Jose are at deadlock. They are uncomfortable paying off a man they placed faith in back in January - a fee believed to be £40 million - he is too stubborn to walk away and the endgame will come when United miss out on the top four and the Red Devils trigger a clause allowing them to part company at a much cheaper price.

There’s lots going on at United right now. It’s just that none of it is any good.